Riders to turn on headlights as the engine starts, says the new House Bill

MANILA: The House Committee on Transportation led by Catanduanes Rep. Cesar Sarmiento approved the new House Bill 1318. According to which riders would now have to keep bike headlights on all the time, irrespective of the fact whether it’s day or night.

Due to the rising number of motorcycle related accidents, the panel decided to take some precautionary steps and therefore initiated the HB 1318. Authored by Mariano Michael Velarde Jr., Buhay Party-List Rep., the ‘Mandatory Automatic Headlights On for Motorcycle Act’ requires the following -

From the rides - They should turn on bike headlights as soon as the engine starts. The headlights must be turned on, be it day or night. All this to ensure increased visibility on the road.

Form the manufacturers, distributors, and assemblers - Under the said bill, they are now required to install ‘automatic headlights on’ device, system or mechanism as a standard option in motorcycles, before they are distributed and sold to buyers.

In addition to all this, every motorcycle running on the Philippines road now should be equipped with one to two headlights (all working, of course).

The House Bill 1318 elaborate the headlight matter further and connects the intensity of the light with that of vehicle’s speed and its distance from other cars or pedestrians.

• Motorcycle moving at a speed of 40.225 kmph should have enough headlight intensity to reveal a vehicle or person at 30.5 meters of distance
• When operating at a speed of 40.225 - 56.315 kmph, the headlight intensity should easily reveal anything at a distance of 61 meters
• Lastly, when the speed is greater than 56.315 kmph, the intensity should be sufficient enough to see any obstacle at a distance of 91.5 meters

Those not following the issued ministry mandate will be imposed with fines and even suspension of licence. Below is the list of the number of offences tallied with the respective penalties -

For motorbike owners, drivers, and operators -

• 1st offence - Php1,000 - 2,000
• 2nd offence - Php2,500 - 3,000
• 3rd and more offence - Php3,500 - 5000 along with the suspension of license for one month

For importers, drivers, and assemblers -

• 1st offence - Php5,000 - 10,000 along with the suspension of license for one year
• 2nd offence - Php10,000 - 20,000 along with the suspension of license for two years
• 3rd and more offence - Php50,000 along with the suspension of license for five years

With these efforts, it is believed that the road visibility would increase and the number of accidents, deaths, and injurious caused due to lack of it would substantially reduce.